o f corn. I obtained a view from the summit
with my field-glass, but I could distinguish nothing
east or south-east. South-west we saw the
Bumbireh group, and to purchase food we were
compelled to proceed thither— disagreeably convinced
that we had lost a whole day b y calling
at A lice Island, whereas, had we kept a direct
course to the south, we might have reached the
Bumbireh group in a few hours.
A s we started only at noon from Alice Island,
being delayed b y expectations o f seeing Magassa,
and also b y the necessity for purchasing something
even at high prices to prevent starvation,
we did not reach Barker’s Island— the easternmost
o f the Bumbireh group— until night, which,
we passed most miserably in a little cove
surrounded b y impenetrable brush-wood. It was
one downpour o f rain throughout the whole
night, which compelled- us to sit up shivering
and supperless, for to crown our discomforts,
we had absolutely nothing to eat. No more
abject objects can be imagined than the human
beings that occupied the boat through the hours
o f darkness. There were my crew all sitting as
c lo se ly as possible, back to back or side b y
side, on the oars and boards which th e y had
arranged like a platform on the thwarts, and I
sitting alone under the awning in the stern-sheets,
wearily trying to outline their figures, or vaguely
taking mental notes o f the irregularities o f the
[APBumbireh75‘] C0ASTING ALONG BUMBIREH. 297
bush, with occasional hasty glances at the gloomy
sky, or at Bumbireh, whose black mass looked
grim and lofty in the dark, and all the time the
rain kept pouring down with a steady malignant
impetuosity. I doubt if even the happiest hours
which may fall to my lot in the future will ever
obliterate from my memory that dismal night
o f discomfort and hunger.
But as it generally happens, the dismal night
was followed b y a beautiful bright morning.
E v e ry inch o f nature that we could scan seemed
revivified, refreshed, and g a y , except the little
world which the boat contained. W e were
eager to renew our acquaintance with humanity,
for only b y contact with others could we live.
W e accordingly sailed for Bumbireh, which lay
about two miles from Barker’s Island, and ran
down the coast in search o f a cove and haven
for our boat, while we should be bartering our
beads for edibles.
Bumbireh Island is about eleven miles in e x treme
length b y two miles greatest breadth. It
is in appearance a hilly range, with a tolerably
even and softly rolling summit-line clothed with
short grass. Its slopes are generally steep, y e t
grassy or cultivated. It contains prob ably fifty
small villages, averaging about twenty huts to
a village, and if we calculate four souls to each
hut, we have a population o f about 4000, including
all ages.